


Shooting Stars and Comet Tails

by carolinecrane



Category: CSI: Crime Scene Investigation
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-05-07
Updated: 2012-05-07
Packaged: 2017-11-04 23:16:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 780
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/399292
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/carolinecrane/pseuds/carolinecrane
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It's not what he expected.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Shooting Stars and Comet Tails

"This is disgusting." Greg looked up from spot on the desert floor where the corpse had been to find Nick smirking at him. From a safe distance. Most likely downwind of the smell. 

"Hey, man, you wanted out in the field."

"Not so I could get stuck doing all the grunt work," Greg answered, peeling off his gloves and wiping imaginary decomposition off his hands. It wasn't the messiest crime scene he'd seen so far, but it was easily the grossest. The body had been dumped in some kind of plastic bag, and when it broke they were left with a pool of – ooze was the only word to describe it – on the ground. 

Of course Nick had stuck him with sifting through the mess while he stayed at a safe distance, taking pictures of the scene. Greg felt dirty all over – his skin was crawling, and he knew it was going to take days and endless showers before he felt clean again.

"Once you see a few of these you get used to it," Nick said, smile fading as he snapped a few more pictures. When he was done he squatted by the grave where the body had been found and squinted out into the darkness. "Besides, it's kind of nice out here."

"We're alone in the middle of the night picking over what's left of a corpse. What's nice about that?" 

"Well, we're alone, for one thing," Nick pointed out, turning back to Greg long enough to smile. "The sky's clear, it's a beautiful night, not too cold…enjoy it while you can, G. Not often you find yourself working a crime scene with this kind of atmosphere."

And okay, the alone part he could get behind, because that didn't happen very often. Usually there was at least one cop hanging around the scene, watching the door and bugging them every so often about how much longer they thought they were going to be. But there were two of them out here, and Nick had sent the uniform back to town awhile ago, so there was nothing to disturb them.

Except the stench, and Greg's noise wrinkled involuntarily when the wind carried a fresh wave of death toward him. "Yeah, can't beat the atmosphere," he muttered, hand over his nose to block the smell as he straightened up and took a few steps backwards. When he reached fresh air he breathed in deeply, but even though he knew it was just his imagination he could still smell the body.

"I don't think we're getting anything else, at least not until daylight," Nick said as he packed up the camera. "We should head back to the lab and see what Doc and Sara came up with on the body."

"Thank God," Greg said, not bothering to glance back to make sure Nick was following him to the truck. "I need about a hundred showers."

Nick laughed at that, shaking his head when Greg glared at him. "It's just your imagination. Sara followed the body, she's going to smell a lot worse than you."

"That's easy for you to say," Greg said as he climbed into the truck next to Nick. "You never got anywhere near it."

Nick rolled his eyes and let go of his seatbelt, letting it fall back against the door before he turned to look at Greg. "Come here."

"Why?"

"Just come here," Nick said, inching closer to the center of the bench seat. Greg frowned but did as he was told, and when the other man leaned in and breathed deep he got what Nick was up to. A second later Nick straightened up again, mouth inches from Greg's and his grin oddly distorted from this close up. "See? You don't smell like decomp."

"Liar."

He tried not to smile at the sound of Nick's laugh, but it was a losing battle. Not that it mattered, because Nick leaned forward and kissed him, soft and almost chaste and it was all Greg could do not to drag him back for more. 

"Okay, maybe you smell a little like decomp. But it's not that bad."

"Says the guy who's not stuck washing his hair with lemon juice."

"We've all been there, G. Only most of us don't have somebody to wash their back for them."

"That an offer?" Greg asked, grinning hopefully when Nick smiled. 

"It's a promise." Nick slid back behind the wheel, starting the engine and pointing the truck back toward town. And suddenly this shift couldn't be over with fast enough, because the thought of a hot shower was inviting enough, but the thought of a hot shower _and_ Nick was even better.


End file.
